The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

This day and age, it is challenging for people to go "unplugged" to live life to the fullest. Holly Schacht, of Orchard, saw the challenge and met it head on. Schacht spent a month in South Africa on a study-abroad trip through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, to gain experience for her fisheries and wildlife major and to fully live in the moment.

"I've always wanted to study abroad, but after COVID hit halfway through my freshmen year and then into my sophomore year, there wasn't a study-abroad program that I was able to go on," Schacht said.

However, Schacht kept her eyes open for a program that interested her.

"UNL has a variety of study abroad programs for students to choose from and ultimately, you can choose which one applies to you the best and the one that you're most interested in," recalled Schacht.

She came across the three-credit South Africa study program, led by John Carroll, and decided it was something she wanted to pursue.

"I chose South Africa because it's always been a place I've wanted to go," Schacht said. "It has a huge diversity of culture and wildlife. Being a fisheries and wildlife major, the South Africa study-abroad program was geared to my major."

It is required by UNL to fill out an application for the program of choice. Then applicants must wait to see if they have been accepted. Once Schacht found out she was accepted, she began getting everything ready for her month-long excursion.

While the pandemic was still throwing a wrench in several plans, Schacht had to overcome some challenges before leaving Nebraska.

"It was all kind of up in the air until we left," said Schacht. "It was probably one of the most stressful parts of the whole trip. There were a few times where plans had changed, and we had to be able to make accommodations to it."

Students on the trip were required to show their passports, proof of vaccinations, and a negative COVID test to leave the United States.

John Carroll, the director of the natural resources school at UNL, along with his former student, Sarah Fritts, who is now a professor at Texas State University, plus Schacht and six other girls set off for South Africa on May 14.

The travelers stayed at Kruger National Park at the Makuleke EcoTraining camp. Schacht explained that ecotraining simply stands for the people who train and help certify people coming in to become guides, so while they were visiting, they were learning about wildlife and practicing to become guides.

Schacht also recalls being very busy throughout the entity of their trip.

"In the morning, we would either go on a walk or a morning drive and then come back for breakfast. Then we would have a lecture and spend our time studying until lunch. After lunch, we would head back out for either an evening walk or drive," Schacht said.

While she couldn't pick one main thing to be her favorite, she said she enjoyed the hikes because they would get to see the sunrise on top of the spots they hiked, while seeing some amazing wildlife. Some of the large wildlife they saw included: elephants, cape buffalo, kudus, impalas, hippos, crocodiles, zebras, warthogs, nyalas, elands, baboons, vervet monkeys, hyenas, blue wildebeests, and black-backed jackals, to name a few.

She also said a lot of time was spent studying and doing field observations. On their walks or drives, they would have to identify the wildlife tracks or sounds. She even recalled identifying a variety of birds and bird calls, frogs and frog calls, alarm calls, reptiles, arthropods, mammals, plants, grasses, and trees on some exams.

"It was pretty intense," Schacht recalled.

She also explained some challenges which included staying focused while studying in such an amazing place. She said the cold mornings were tough to wake up in because they would have to use a flashlight in the dark.

When asked about the differences between the United States and South Africa, Schacht replied, "South Africa is a very diverse country that has numerous cultures. They have 11 official languages."

She also said there were signs on the drive to the park gate that would say "crime alert" due to the high crime rate in the area. But the largest difference she noticed was that there were huge areas of wide open land. She said her group was pretty excluded from people besides the others who were also in the camp.

Courtesy Photo

What a view • Holly Schacht and friends take in the landscape at Kruger National Park in South Africa.

"I think this trip has helped me be more willing to get out of my comfort zone and be willing to try new things and meet new people," said Schacht. "I've always been pretty shy when meeting new people, but I think it has definitely helped me not be so shy. I've met some amazing people on this trip from other countries as well, and it opened my eyes on how other people around my age live their lives in similar and different ways."

While Schacht was in South Africa, the group had no phone service to contact their friends and family back home.

"I enjoyed the time being disconnected and didn't miss not being connected at all," said Schacht. "It's not that I didn't miss my friends and family, but it's the fact that we were constantly busy and enjoying our time. I knew I could wait until I saw them to tell them about it."

Schacht returned to Nebraska on June 13 and tells others that if they are interested in study abroad, they should go for it and not be afraid to take chances.

"I really enjoyed my study abroad and would definitely do it again," she said.